Hi Yves, It is sort of double-edged, isn’t it? That’s what I love about Twain…to me this quote means that if you lift people up out of poverty and ignorance, then those who take power (like our current administration) by exploiting people’s apathy and ignorance will be rendered impotent; and they’ll remain powerless for longer than when there is a reactionary upheaval (like our last congressional elections). Unfortunately we aren’t really any closer to providing soap and education to the world than we were when he said this.

OK, Yes, I understand the shift now. Doesn’t Twain mean also “Tyrants, don’t educate the people, you’ll end up being overthrowed?”, not just impotent, but massacred? Isn’t this a sort of appeal to the people to become educated if they want to free themselves from oppression?
Nice talking to you,
yves